Bridgestone Americas Inc. is adding an all-position, wide-base radial truck tire to its Firestone lineup. The Firestone FS818 is designed for on-and-off-highway applications and severe service environments.

The tire’s wide-base design is designed for higher payloads and improved flotation. It features special tread compounds to help resist cuts, chips, tearing and irregular wear.
The Firestone FS818 is designed with a deep, self-cleaning tread pattern for aggressive traction and long original mileage. Stone rejector platforms in every groove offer durability.

block sipes to slice through water and provide solid grip on wet roads;
four steel belts to extend casing life while providing protection from cuts and punctures;
sidewall protector ribs to fight against cuts, snags and abrasions; and
block design and edges to perform in on/off highway environments.
The Firestone FS818 tire is available in these sizes:

After three years as a major, confidential investor in a tire recycling project, Bridgestone Americas Inc. is assuming the role of minority investor.

The Delta-Energy Group (DEG) announced a new majority investor, Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI), and at the same time said Bridgestone would take on a lesser role. DEG says it has developed and patented a process to recover carbon black and marketable liquid chemicals from used tires.

DEG says Bridgestone was the company’s first investor outside of its founders, and that the tire maker’s “infusion of capital has allowed DEG to prove concepts and attract new investments to accelerate development.”

“Bridgestone remains committed to its environmental mission which includes continually improving natural resource conservation through operational improvements and product design,” says Bill Thompson, chief operating officer at Bridgestone. “We supported Delta-Energy early due to its potential to develop a process and circular economy market for used tires domestically and internationally.” The tire maker says the project’s new investor “is validation of the potential for this market and technology and should accelerate development going forward.”

More than 270 million passenger and truck tires reach their useful life each year in the U.S., creating an opportunity for millions of tons of end-of-use tires to be repurposed and processed into high-value products.

Proceeds from the investment will be used to develop a commercial scale plant in Natchez, Miss., with an estimated daily processing capacity of 100 tons of end of use tires. DEG’s commercial plant will recover carbon black and other basic materials for reuse in tire production and other rubber-related manufacturing processes, as well as liquid solvents and fuels.

“The founders of Delta-Energy have achieved technological proof of concept in large part thanks to early-stage support from Bridgestone,” says Nicholas Haslett, chief strategy officer at CCI. “As an industry leader, Bridgestone’s commitment to Delta-Energy validates the quality and market potential for the company’s products.

“CCI will bring experience in developing and operating midstream and conversion assets, as well as access to one of the largest physical oil liquids marketing franchises, while Bridgestone will provide offtake capacity for DEG-produced recovered carbon black and continue to identify opportunities to substitute the DEG recovered product for virgin carbon black.”

Yokohama is presenting the sweepstakes in conjunction with its marketing partner Nitro Circus Live Pty. Ltd., a global action sports and entertainment company that produces the Nitro World Games. Yokohama is also the exclusive tire of the Nitro Circus Live Tour in the United States through 2019.

The truck made its debut at the Nitro Circus show in San Diego and will be on display at all 20 Nitro Circus Live events across the country through the end of September. A free set of Geolandar M/T G003 tires will be given away at each Nitro Circus Live event.

The sweepstakes winner will be announced after the close of the contest and will be streamed on Facebook Live. You can also follow Yokohama on Instagram @yokohamatire and Twitter @yokohamatc.

“The grand prize-winning Ram 2500 Power Wagon is a real beauty,” says Fardad Niknam, Yokohama Tire director of LTR segment development. “We partnered with AEV to load the truck with all sorts of cool modifications, including a three-inch dual sport SC lifted suspension, a premium front off-road bumper, 17×8.5 Katla onyx black wheels, and differential covers for the front and rear. The custom livery wrap was designed by Jon Sibal and, of course, it runs on 37×12.50 R17 Yokohama GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires. It will draw a lot of attention from fans at the Nitro Circus events.”

Niknam says the new M/T tire was created for hardcore off-roaders, outdoor enthusiasts and pickup truck/SUV owners, and is initially available in 37 sizes, ranging from 15- to 20-inch rim diameters. New features on the M/T, which goes on sale in the U.S. July 1, include aggressive sidewall styling, Geo-Shield technology and a special triple-polymer compound.

Yokohama is the exclusive tire of the Nitro Circus Live Tour in the United States and an official sponsor of the Nitro World Games, June 24 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Go here for details on the 2017 Nitro World Games or visit for the 2017 Nitro Circus Live Tour North American schedule.

There’s only one tire maker that can call itself a Fortune 500 company. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been on the list of America’s largest companies ever since the list began in 1955.

In 2017, Goodyear ranks at no. 184. with $15.2 billion in revenue in 2016. Goodyear is the fourth-largest company in Fortune’s motor vehicles and parts category, behind General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Lear Corp.

The Fortune 500 is made up of businesses that are incorporated in the U.S. and operate here. See the list.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is ranked no. 743 on the 2017 edition of the list, with $2.9 billion in revenue.

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Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. has been awarded bronze and finalist awards for its futuristic concept tires at the 2017 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).

The company’s Flexup tire received a bronze award and the Shiftrac tire earned a finalist award in the annual international design competition sponsored annually by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and judged by top design experts across the globe.

The competition is known as one of the world’s top three most prestigious awards alongside the iF Design Award and the Red Dot Award. This year’s five judging criteria were design innovativeness, user experience, user benefits, social responsibility and aesthetic impression.

Hankook Flexup tire received the bronze award for “reflecting an innovative design that can lead the future of driving and present an innovative brand image,” according to the company. Hankook says the finalist award for the Shiftrac tire proves its “future-oriented design philosophy and innovative technology as a top-tier, premium global company with design excellence.”

Flexup is a one-person vehicle that can access stairs, speed bumps, etc. in cities with narrow roads, through a principle of driving treads that expand or contract, reaching the speed of 35 km/h through the city environment. Shiftrac is a hyper agility based tire concept, designed to perform smooth and agile driving within a mega city, through block shifting or skating principle pushing outwards, allowing strong cornering and fast lane change.

Through Hankook Tire’s Design Innovation 2016 – Hankook’s exclusive sponsor program collaborating with the world’s renowned design universities’ students – the company collaborated with the University of Cincinnati to design and produce both Flexup and Shiftrac. The two models have been created to ride through the future mega cities with smart mobility.

Prior to this year’s achievements, Hankook received the IDEA 2015 award, the Luminary award at the Red Dot Award and the iF Gold Award 2016 for the Boostrac, Alpike and Hyblade, based on the collaboration with Pforzheim University in Germany.

Pirelli’s TP Commercial Solutions LLC division has launched the first tire in the Pentathlon product family. The new Pentathlon D is a premium drive tire for the long haul market in North America.

The company says the new tire features the most advanced Pirelli technology and is tailored to the North American market. The Pentathlon D is a premium offering that gives fleets extremely high mileage, fuel savings, and low emission benefits as a SmartWay-verified tire.

The company says that as the Pentathlon name indicates, the new tire is distinguished by five distinct areas.

“Pentathlon D provided excellent results in testing against the industry’s most important performance benchmarks of mileage and traction in all conditions. This is a true embodiment of everything the Pirelli brand stands for – high performance, premium quality, innovative technology and industry leadership,” says Clif Armstrong, president of TP Commercial Solutions LLC.

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC is increasing the prices of its commercial tires in North America.

The company says it will raise prices “up to 8%” on its commercial truck and bus tires and off-the-road tires. The increase will take effect on or before July 1, depending on business unit and product line.

This is the second price increase on Bridgestone products in 2017, resulting in a 16% increase. The company announced its initial round of price hikes in late January, and a few days later extended it to cover the entire Bridgestone portfolio.

Bridgestone follows Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which announced a second price increase on April 5.

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American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. is recalling nearly 700 Kenda Kenetica tires, size P235/75R15 105S KR17. The tires may have a void between the top steel belt and the undertread.

Kenda says 696 tires were affected. The tires were produced between Dec. 23, 2016, and Dec. 26, 2016. They have a void between the top steel belkt and tire undertread located at the overlapped steel belt splice. This was cuased by improper machine set up, the company says in filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Durability testing on Jan 17, 2017, on tires with the void indicated the void did not cause a tread separation, but a recall is being initiated as a preventative measure.

Kenda believes 78% of the 696 tires have the void. The tires are Kenda Part. No. 170018 235/75R15 KR 17, with the DOT No. K3D5ANA5116 and K3D5ANA5216.

The company says it shipped 543 of the tires to Hesselbein Tire in Tulsa, Okla., and 153 tires to Max Finkelstein in Westampton, N.J. After shipment Kenda determined 542 of the tires didn’t pass production inspection and should not be in service.

Dealers need to identify the affected tires with the manufacturer ID label on the inner liner of the tire. Tires with these numbers should be replaced and scrapped.

9259 6122301 9226 6122301
9259 6122401 9226 6122401
9259 6122501 9226 6122501
9259 6122601 9226 6122601
Tire distrubutors are asked to provide Kenda with a list of retailers who may have been shipped the affected part number after Feb. 1, 2017. If a distributor has any of these tires remaining in its inventory, Kenda asks that it remove them from inventory and return them to the manufacturer.

Tire retailers are asked to provide Kenda consumer contact information for consumers who may have purchased the affected product after Feb. 1. If a retailer has any of these tires remaining in inventory, Kenda asks that they contact Laura Garcia at (614) 729-7877 for return instructions.

After contacting consumers who may have purchases the affected tires, Kenda asks retailers to demount the tire and check the inner liner for the manufacturer code. If it does not match one of the above numbers, the retailer should re-mount and balance the tire. Kenda will reimburse the dealer for the service and provide the consumer with a $25 gift certificate.

If the manufacturer code does match, the tire should be replaced with the new 235/75R15 KR17 (Part No. 170018) and mount and balance the tire. Kenda will reimburse the dealer for the service and provide the consumer with a $25 gift certificate.

Owners may contact the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to http://www.safercar.gov. The campaign number for this recall is 17T-010.

The state of Mississippi has recognized two tire plants operated by Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. for their initiatives to protect and preserve the environment.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has recognized Cooper Tupelo and Clarksdale plants as members of its environmental stewardship enHance initiative.

A voluntary program consisting of three-year membership terms, the enHance initiative, which stands for “envision heightened awareness nurturing conservation and environmental excellence,” recognizes committed environmental leaders in Mississippi that put in place environmental initiatives beyond those that are required.

The MDEQ enHance program is designed to encourage the reduction of waste and conservation of resources, resulting in long-term economic benefit and continuous environmental enhancement.

There are four levels of membership: Associate, Steward, Leader, and for non-regulated entities, Environmental Star.

The Clarksdale plant has been a member for three years and has been recognized as a Steward level member for its second three-year term.

The Tupelo plant has been a member for six years and has been recognized as a Leader level member, the highest level possible, for its third three-year term.

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Employees from Hankook Tire America Corp.’s U.S. headquarters recently donated more than 1,000 baby supplies as part of a United Way campaign to help needy families in Nashville, Tenn.

“We want members of the community to know we are here for them,” says Hankook President Hee-Se Ahn. “We desire to show support for our North American home and are honored to help families in need.”

Employees donated diapers, baby lotion, socks, wipes and other essential needs to mothers of infants as part of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville’s Titan Up for Tots Community Baby Shower. The United Way will distribute the items to at-risk mothers living in the area.

“We appreciate Hankook Tire’s involvement in this drive,” says the United Way’s Interim CEO Mary Jo Wiggins. “Our community is stronger because companies like Hankook are devoted to its betterment.”

Hankook Tire moved its American headquarters to Nashville less than a year ago from Wayne, N.J. For more information about Hankook, visit http://www.hankooktire.com/us.